Never Leave Your Wingman Behind

You can be my wingman anytime – Iceman. Earlier last week, I saw a great post by Steve Leonard , aka Doctrine Man, about five life lessons from Top Gun. Being a lifelong fan of Top Gun since age 4, I eagerly read it and enjoyed lesson 4, “It’s about mentoring. Without Viper, there is no redemption for Pete Mitchell.”

This got me thinking about the mentorship within Top Gun. First, as Doctrine Man points out, we have the pivotal role of Viper in Maverick’s career development. Maverick considers a future in the Navy without Goose, so he goes to his instructor and mentor, Viper. During this exchange, Viper reveals that he knew Maverick’s father and was there when his dad went missing. This experience helps Maverick see a road ahead besides despair and enables him to make the best decision.?

Good mentors do not tell us what to do. Instead, they help us see the situation as clearly as possible, help us uncover enough information to make decisions with, and then support us in our choices (as long as they’re legal, moral, and ethical!).

As we progress in the saga, we see Captain Pete Mitchell as a test pilot struggling to continue fitting in with the Navy of the future. He has made it this long in his career due to the advocacy of his former wingman, Iceman (Val Kilmer). Over the past two decades, Iceman advised Maverick, advocated on his behalf, and worked to ensure Maverick could have a place in the Navy. This ends up with Maverick being selected to train (and lead) a top-secret, dangerous mission with several young hotshot pilots (him two decades ago!). As Maverick struggles with his new mission, he visits Admiral Iceman to seek guidance and gets the message, “It’s time to let go.”

Iceman is a peer mentor of Maverick’s. Peer mentors push us to become the best version of ourselves; they know us better than almost anyone else. Iceman has seen Maverick carry the burden of Goose’s death and knows that to be successful and ensure Maverick’s new pilots' safety, Maverick has to let go of his burden.

Great mentors can be our peers, but often, we seek those too far ahead of us and refuse to look close. These peer mentors are the ones we end up being our most authentic with because no wall comes down, as happens typically in traditional or reverse mentoring situations. Look closely when looking for mentors; you may just be surprised at who is there if you drop your ego and seek guidance.

Be like Iceman and never leave your wingman behind.

As we go throughout our day or week, here are some questions to reflect on:

Is your mentorship circle filled with peers, superiors, and subordinates, or are you focused on collecting big names to leverage?

Who is a peer that you can connect with who may need guidance?

Do you use stories to connect with and help your mentee see a potential future?

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